La Plume, PA – Visiting Utica College overcame Alyssa Cuomo (Odessa, DE/Hodgson Vo-tech)'s game-high 24 point – 21 of which came in the second half – to defeat spoil Keystone College women's basketball's home opener on Sunday afternoon,  71-65.  The Pioneers lift their record to 3-2 on the year while the Giants fall to 2-3 overall after suffering their second non-conference setback in as many days.
 
With the scored tied 15-15 at the 11:33 mark of the first half, Utica used a 12-6 run to claim a 27-21 advantage with 7:25 left on the clock.  After a layup by Chelsey Hropovich (Seward, PA/Ligonier Valley), the Pioneers used an 11-1 burst to claim a 38-24 lead with 1:36 left in the period before taking a 12-point advantage, 38-26, into the locker room at halftime.
 
Bridget Greenwald led Utica with 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half while Samantha Stayer and Ashley Mayo chipped in six points apiece for the Pioneers, who shot 41.9 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 2-5 from three-point range and 10-13 from the free throw line.  The visitors also held a 26-16 edge in rebounds in the stanza.
 
Ashley Evans (Wooster, OH/Wooster) paced Keystone with nine first-half points while Hropovich added six points.  Jazmyn Robinson (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) dished out four assists and Jerica Rode (Lords Valley, PA/Wallenpaupack) blocked three shots in the period for the Giants, who connected on 35.5 percent of their attempts from the floor while going 2-8 from beyond the arc and 2-7 from the stripe.
 
Keystone came out battling in the second half and cut their deficit to 50-46 with 11:26 remaining in regulation when Evans connected on a three-pointer.  Utica was able to extend their lead back to eight points at 58-50 at the 7:34 mark, but the Giants used an 11-5 spurt over the next 3:38 to draw to within two points at 63-61 with just under four minutes left on a three-point play by Robinson.  However, that was as close as the hosts were able to come the rest of the way as the Pioneers were able to seal the six-point win down the stretch.
 
Greenwald led Utica with a double-double on 19 points and 13 rebounds while Christy Traglia added 13 points for the Pioneers, who shot 43.1 percent for the game while going 2-8 from three-point land and 19-31 (61.3 percent from the free throw line while holding a 50-32 advantage on the glass for the game.
 
Cuomo's game-high 24 points came on a 9-18 effort from the floor including five three-pointers.  Evans added 12 points for the game while Robinson finished with nine points to go along with a season-best eight assists and three steals. 
 
Hropovich and Cierra Hensley (Frederick, MD/Frederick) chipped in eight points apiece for Keystone, with Hropovich collecting team-highs of nine rebounds and four steals in the loss for the Giants, who connected on 41.0 percent of their field goal attempts including a 42.1 percent (8-19) effort from downtown while going 43.8 percent (7-16) from three free throw line.
 
Keystone will look to snap a two-game losing skid on Tuesday when they return to the hardwood with a non-conference game at Eastern University.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in St. Davids, Pennsylvania.